When You Are Old W.B. Yeats

Background The poet W.B. Yeats met Maud Gonne in 1889 when he was twenty-four. Maud Gonne was a brilliant and passionate woman who believed fiercely in the Irish Nationalist cause, at this time Ireland was still under British rule (and would be until 1922). Yeats fell deeply in love with her and asked her to marry him but she did not return this love and refused his proposal. Yeats was broken-hearted and later said that from the moment he met her “the troubling of my life began”. In 1903 Maud Gonne married a prominent Irish Republican Major John MacBride who would be executed by the British Army for his involvement in the 1916 rebellion. Yeats went on to marry George Hyde-Lees who made a crucial contribution to his later writing. They had two children, Michael and Anne Yeats.

‘When you are old and grey and full of sleep ‘When you are old and grey and full of sleep.’ Yeats asks Maud Gonne to picture herself as a tired old woman. ‘full of sleep’ This is a metaphor (a comparison not using like or as) Sleep = Death ‘Full of sleep’ meaning ‘old and close to death’

Gonne is presented as tired: “Nodding by the fire” This is an unusual image with which to begin a love poem. The central image of the piece is of an old woman sitting by the fire.

‘dream of the soft look Your eyes had once’ His word choice ‘once’ emphasises that her beauty is now gone. There is a feeling of longing and sadness in these lines as the woman remembers that she was once young and beautiful.

And loved your beauty with love false or true’ ‘How many loved your moments  of glad grace, And loved your beauty with love false or true’ Yeats is reminding Gonne about her many admirers. Many loved her for physical reasons: for her elegance.   He uses alliteration to describe her elegance. ‘glad grace’

‘loved your beauty with love false or true’ Some admirers loved her for her beauty. Some love was real. Some love was false.

‘one man loved the pilgrim soul in you’ This is a metaphor (a comparison not using like or as). This metaphor conveys the idea that what Yeats loved about her was her independence and strong character. He does not love her for her beauty alone. Like a pilgrim, her life has been a long journey, and Yeats appreciates her character’s complexities.

‘And bending down beside the glowing bars’ A lonely image of a cold, old woman who is on her own. ‘Murmur, a little sadly’ This is an example of onomatopoeia. This use of onomatopoeia conjures up an image of a woman who does not need to speak clearly as no-one is around to listen.

‘how love fled’ This is an example of personification Love is personified and it has ‘fled’. Love has ‘fled’ and ‘paced upon the mountains overhead’. Love or Yeats would not wait around forever. ‘And hid his face amid a crowd of stars’ Yeats and love are now out of her reach

THE WARNING IN THE POEM Yeats is offering her a stark warning, refuse me at your own risk for no-one will love you as much as I did. But do not realise this too late as I may be gone and you may end up alone with nothing to comfort you but a small fire and your feelings of regret.

Theme ‘When You Are Old’ is a beautiful and moving poem about enduring love. The approach the poet takes is unusual. Rather than tell the woman of his love directly, he presents her with an image of herself as an old woman reflecting on her life and loves. She realises that although she was loved by many men, one man (the poet) loved her the most. He loved her “pilgrim soul” and the “sorrow” of her “changing face”. The poem also takes the form of an address - it is written in the second person “you” - which gives it a wonderful intimacy and sadness. Notice that the title of the poem is ‘When You Are Old’ and not ‘Now That You Are Old’. The poet wants the woman to imagine how incomplete her life will be without him. By imagining this he wants her to avoid that lonely future and return his love now, while they are both still young and have their lives ahead of them.

Imagery ‘When You Are Old’ is a memorable love poem because of the beautiful and sad images the poet creates for us. In the opening stanza, the central image of the old woman sitting by the fire lost in nostalgic memories is introduced. She takes down a book containing this poem: “And slowly read, and dream of the soft look Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;” There is a feeling of longing and sadness in these lines as the woman remembers that she was once young and beautiful.

Imagery In the second stanza the poet imagines the woman recalling those who loved her with “love false or true”. But as much as these men loved her, one man loved “… the pilgrim soul in you,” The “one man” here is the poet himself and this is an important image in the poem. The poet does not love her for her beauty alone but for the depth of her character, her “pilgrim” soul. Like a pilgrim, the woman’s life has been a long journey, travelled in search of truth and wholeness.

Imagery In the final stanza the poem returns to the room where the old woman sits. In the detail of the “glowing bars” the poet suggests a sadness and loneliness – she sits by an electric heater and “murmurs, a little sadly, how love fled”. The poem then moves from the woman to a final image as she becomes aware of how the love she experienced in her life has now gone. It has concealed itself in the mountains and stars – it is as if she can always see it but never reach out and touch it: “… how love fled And paced above the mountains overhead And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.”

Questions What makes this an unusual love poem? The poem is written in the 2nd person. What difference do you think this makes to the poem? What, in your opinion, are the three best images in the poem? Explain what you think each image added to the poem. Do you think this is a good love poem? Give reasons for your answer.